Shawnee Dispatch

John Taylor

Thanks for your question, new2shawnee. The sports section was three pages this week and three pages last week. It's true the pages are smaller, though. One thing to keep in mind is that our print product is supplemented by our Web site. If you go back and look at www.shawneedispatch.com, you'll see stories each week that didn't appear in the newspaper but are online.

• February 5, 2009at 3:59 p.m.

John Taylor

Thanks for your question, Mike. At this time we don't plan to go back to the Super Crossword that we used to publish in The Dispatch. The biggest reason is because of it's size. With our smaller format, we just thought it was prudent to go with a smaller crossword. As we planned for the new format change, we reassessed all of our features to determine how best to serve our readers. Rather than cut down on our story count, we looked at the former puzzle page as one place where we might gain some space in the new format.

We don't take changing crossword puzzles lightly; I've been involved at other newspapers when crosswords were changed, and I know readers take their crosswords personally.

We'll continue to gauge reader reaction to this change over the next several weeks and assess the situation at that time. Until then, I'd urge you, Mike, to keep trying the new crossword to see if you feel differently about it.

Thanks again for the question!

• February 5, 2009at 4:10 p.m.

John Taylor

You bet. We'd love to get suggestions from our readers for potential subjects for"Neighbors" or for any story for that matter. You can e-mail your suggestions to me at jtaylor@theworldco.info or call me at 913-962-3000, ext. 102.

• February 5, 2009at 4:15 p.m.

John Taylor

And what about Point of View?

• February 5, 2009at 4:15 p.m.

John Taylor

Anyone interested in being on our Point of View panel should contact Caroline Boyer, cboyer@theworldco.info or 913-962-3000, ext. 111. You should know upfront that Point of View is a longer-term commitment, but again, we'd be glad to have reader suggestions or volunteers for that feature.

• February 5, 2009at 4:18 p.m.

John Taylor

The weather forecast is produced by Matt Elwell, a meteorologist with 6News-Lawrence and KTKA-TV in Topeka, which are owned by the same company that publishes The Dispatch. Matt develops the Seven-Day Outlook for us each week for publication in The Dispatch. In addition, we also have our new commuter forecast, which appears as an online video every weekday at www.shawneedispatch.com/weather. Those videos give are updated for both the morning drive and the evening commute. We're pretty excited about being able to bring these new features to our readers, both in print and online. I'd also be remiss without mentioning the work of Gil Hoag, who keeps tabs on our high and low temperatures and rain and snow totals each week. Thanks Gil!

• February 5, 2009at 4:27 p.m.

John Taylor

I'd like to second that. If anyone has any other comments about the redesign or any other questions about The Dispatch, please give me a call at 962-3000, ext. 102, or send an e-mail to me at jtaylor@theworldco.info. I'd be glad to try to answer all questions.

• February 5, 2009at 4:31 p.m.